“If you walk in with information about you, they consider you a salesman. If you walk in with ideas and answers, they consider you a resource. Which one are you?”

• Jeffrey Gitomer, long-time sales trainer and coach

Gitomer is a good one, usually a relatively clear voice in the static. Even with an over-emphasis on the word “answers,” he covers the spectrum well here, and more importantly, he touches on the holy grail of sales professionals.

Ideas are the currency of Difference Makers.

Ideas transform challenges into strategies. Ideas move us forward, and if we end up moving in the wrong direction, fresh ideas will allow us to course-correct, keep moving and stay in the game.

I’ve never been a “system” guy, or a “methodology” guy, and it’s because ideas have always trumped the system or the method.